The chat ban is separate, but identical in use and effect to a forum ban. The two bans are separate in recognition that a user may be perfectly civil in the typically slower pace of the forum, yet demonstrate hostile behavior in a live discussion.

In both venues every reasonable effort is made to avoid having to ban a member. But when the moderating team concludes that they will not refrain from hostility toward other members, they are banned in progressive steps. Typically those steps are 1 week, 1 month, 1 year and lastly, permanently.

To date one person has been banned from the chat room. That was in response to repeated hostility towards several members and refusal to stop when asked to by the chat room moderators.